Lawn-mower.



G. E. TOWNSEND.

LAWN MOWER.

APPLICATION FILED JAN.31, 1910. 991,910.

Patented May 9, 1911.

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G/E. TOWNSBND.

LAWN MOWQR. APPLICATION FILED'JAN. 31.1910

Patented May 9,'1911 2 SHEETS-SHEET Z.

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GEORGE E. TWNSEND, OF SPRINGFIELD, OHIO.

LAWN-Mowna.

Specification of Letters Patent.

'niaehine-I Ay further objectI of thc invention is to providev anautomatically adjustable support for the cuttingmechanism,'whereby thismechanism will 'accommodate itsel't' to the .irregularities in thegromid, regardless y of the position of-the main trame.

In thmaceompanying' drawings, IiQjure 1l is a top, plan View olf alawn-mower embodyingfmy invention; and Fig. 2 is a lon sectional View,taken vertically through such a machine.

In these drawings I have illustrated one embodiment of my inventionv andhave shown the same as com prising a .main frame consist-ing of s idemembers l which are' conneetedv atetheir rear ends by a traiisversemember? and at their :forward ends by a shaft 3 which is mounted insuitable openings formed in the side members l and has suitaliileStops,`such as shoulders 5 to hold the samev againstlongitudinal movementrelatively to these side men'ibers. lhe side membersl' have uwvardlyprojecting' parts, such as arms 6 and 7, which are connected bytransverse bars 8 and 9. A supporting deck 0r platform l10 is mounted onthese upwardlyI `extending portions of the main frame and theirconnecting members and on this supporting-deelt is mounted an explosiveengine' 1l which may be ot' any suitable typel and is here shown as adouble opposed eXplos-ive engine of ordinary e0nstruction. 'lliei'rea'r4portion'ot' 4the main it'rame is snpportjod'orrsuitable ground wheels12, which.;tinithe@presentinstance, are of suoli a construction*a'tid`are So arranged as to ward corners constitute a ground roller. Theforward end ot the trame is supported by caster-wheels tf-i carried bystandards or vertical spindles l-l which are journaled in verticalbearings 5 carried by the main frame near the torthereo't. The groundwheels .l2 are actuated 'from the engine ll Ain any desirable manner. Inthe present instance a train of gearing is employed tor this puryposeand comprises a gear Q5 mounted on a sha'l't Qt o1" the engine andmeshing;- with a te'ear 27 carried by a eountershal't 2S mounted on thesupporting-deck l0 and having secured thereto a second gear 2t), which,in turn, meshes with a gear 30 carried by the shaft. 31 upon which theground wheels 12 are mounted. ltie'idly secured to and eX- tendingrearwardly and upwardly from the main 'trame are suitable steering'handles 1G. .ln the present instance one ol these handles is secured tothe main t'ramc on each side thereot and the handles are connected atltheir outer ends by a cross bar 17. Supported by the steering handlessuitable controlling mechanism which is operatively connected te theseveral controlliner parts of the engine ll. As here shown thiseontrolling' mechanism comprises a plurality 0i" levers 1H mounted onthe cross bar .t7 and havingl lockinkgr dogs lf) adapted to engage therespective segments 520 which are also mounted on the cross bar l T.Ihesc levers are r-,onncctml by any suitable means, such as the'rods 21,with the controlling parts of the engine. In the present machine onelever is connected with the throttle lever 22 which controls theearbureter, another with the timing.; lever E223 tor timing' the sparkand the third with the lever Qflwhich controls the transmissionmechanism. lhesc several parts ol. the controlling mechanism are ofordinary construction and it; not necessary that the same should be hereshown or described in detail and l have, therefore, only shown the samein conventional form. lt. will be obvious that, the character of theparts controlled and of the controlling mechanism is immaterial, theessential feature being that the ycontrolling mechanism supported by thesteering handles and `is operatively connected with the controllingPatented May 9, 1911.- y Application filed January' 31, 1910. Serial No.540,981.

parts of the engine, thereby enabling: the

operator to walk in the rear of the machine,

-connected at their rear ends by a transverse -member 33 on which ismounted a cutter bar 34. The rear end of this frame is supported by aground roller which is con-l nected thereto in the rear of the cutterbar 34. This ground roller is preferably made adjustable by journalingthe same in plates 36 vwhich are adjustably mounted on the rear ends ofthe side members 32. A shaft 37 carrying the revolving cutters 38 isjournaled in the frame members 32 in such a position that the revolvingcutters will cooperate with the cutter bar 34. The cutter shaft 37'hassecured thereto a sprocket wheel 39 which is connected by means of asprocket chain 40 with a second sprocket wheel 41 on the shaft 3, thisshaft, in turn, having a sprocket wheel 42 which is connected by asprocket chain 43 with a sprocket wheel 44 on the engine shaft 26.

l/Vhile the shaft and sprocket wheels carried thereby may be of anysuitable character I prefer to rigidly mount the shaft 3 in the sidemembers of the main frame and to frm the sprocket Wheels 41 and 42 as adouble sprocket wheel journaled on the shaft 3.

Itwill be noted that the supporting frame 32 is pivoted on the shaft 31which is the driving shaft for the cutter mechanism, and, consequently,this frame is free to move about this shaft without aecting the drivlingchain 40. .Tlieiefoie, as the machine moves over the ground the roller35 will follow irregularities inthe ground and maintain the cuttermechanism, to which it` is closely ylocated and rigidly connected, atlthe proper distance from the ground, regardless of the position of thecaster-Wheels or of the main frame. In this manner I have overcome thedifficulty heretofore almost invariably encountered in powerdrivenmachines, namely, that the position -of the cutter mechanism wascontrolled by,

' the supporting wheels for `the main frame,

and, as these wheels were necessarily removed soine distance from thecutter mechanism, the cutter mechanism would not follow theirregularities in the ground, and, as

the supporting wheels for the frame followed these irregularities,'thecutter mech anism would either be too high to properly cut the grass orwould be so low as to cutA into the ground. It .will be readily ap-"parent, however, that this cannot happen with a fioating cuttingmechanism such as herein shown and described.

Bymounting the cutting mechanism in I the rear of the pivotal center ofthe supporting frame a forward pull is exerted on the has a slightlyupward tendency, as distinguished from the forward and downward thrustexerted on the,cutting mechanism` .cutting mechanism and this forwardpull when it is mounted in front of the pivotal center of the supportingframe. In this manner I further overcome the tendency of ment of themachine with an ease and cer- '85 which must be either steered orcontrolled or both, from a point above or alongside of the main frame;and also that by reason of4 the arrangement of the steering handlesand.. controlling mechanism, together with the. automatically adjustablecutter mechanism it is possible to manipulate the machineinl taintywhich is not possible with a machine such a maiiner as to cut the grassin places inaccessible to ordinary power-driven machines, such as closealong the side of al felice, about shrubbery or along the edges ofditches and the like; and further, that the machine can be'used onground of a very uneven character which would entirely hibit the use ofan ordinary power-driven machine owing .to the tendency of the cuttingmechanisml to cut into the ground.-

lVhile I have herein shown and described I one form of my 'machine itwill be apparent that many changes in the construction of the saine maybe made Without departing from the principle of my invention and I,therefore, wish it to be understood that I do not desire to be limitedto the details of conf struction shown and described, for obviousmodifications will occur to a person skilled in the art. 4

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desireto secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a lawn mower, the combination, witha main frame, ground wheelstherefor, and means ,forpropelling said main frame, of a supportingframe pivotally connected directly to a fixed part carried by said mainframe, cutting mechanism carried by said i supporting frame in the rearof its pivotal` connection to said main frame, and ground engaging meanscarried by said supporting frame' to maintain said cutting mechanism ata uniform distance from the ground(l 2. In a lawn mower, thecombination, with a main frame, ground wheels therefor,` and means forpropelling said main frame, of a supporting frame pivotally' connecteddi4 rectly to a fixed part carried by said main frame, cutting mechanismcarried by said supporting frame in the rear of'its pivotal connect-ionto said main frame, and ground engaging means carriedy by saidsupporting frame inthe rear of said cutting mechanism to maintain saidcuttingmechanism at a uni- 'form distance from the ground.

3. In a lawn mower, the combination, with a main frame, ground wheelstherefor, and means for propelling said main frame, of a supportingframe pivotally connected directly to a fixed part carried by said mainframe, cutting mechanism carried by said supporting frame in the rear ofits pivotal connection to said main frame, and a ground engaging rollercarried by said supporting frame adjacent to said cutting mechanism.

et. In a lawn mower, the combination, with a main frame, ground wheelstherefor, and an engine mounted 0n said main frame, of a supportingframe pivotally connected to said main f lame and freely movable aboutits point of connection thereto, a rotatable driving member supportedbyA said main frame with its axis of rotation coincident with thepivotal center of said supporting `frame, means for operativelyconnecting ysaid driving member with said engine, cutting mechanismcarried by said supporting frame in the rear of its pivotal connectionto said main frame, and an actuatingmember carried by said supportingframe and operatively connected with said cutting mechanism and 'withsaid driving member.

5.111 a lawn mower, the combination, with a main frame, ground wheelstherefor, and an engine mounted on said main frame, of a shaft mountedon said main frame, a supportil'ig -frame connected with said shaft andhaying free pivotal movement about the axis thereof, cutting mechanismcarried by said supporting frame in the rear of its point of connectionto said shaft, means for maintaining said cutting mechanism at a uniformdistance from th., ground, a sprocket wheel carried by said supportingframe and connected with said cutting mechanism, a second sprocketwheelmounted on said shaft, a sprocket chain passing about said sprocketwheels, and means for driving said second sprocket wheel from saidengine.

(i. In a lawn mower, the combination, with a. main frame, ground wheelstherefor, and an engine mounted on said main frame, of a shaft mountedon said main frame, a supporting frame connected to said shaft,extending rearwardly therefrom and having pivotal movement about thelongitudinal axis thereof, cutting mechanism carried by said supportingframe` means for maintaining said cutting mechanism at a uniformdistance from the ground, a sprocket wheel carried by said supportingframerand` connected with said cutting mechanism, a second sprocketwheel mounted on said shaft, a sprocket chain passingabout said sprocketwheels, and means for driving said second sprocket wheel from saidengine.

7. In a lawn-mower, the combination,with a. frame, ground wheelstherefor, an engine mounted on said frame, steering handles secured tosaid frame, and controlling mechanisin for said engine supported by saidsteering handles, of a supporting frame pivot-ally mounted on thefirst-mentioncd frame, cutting mechanism carried by said supportingframe'in the rear of its pivotal center. and means for driving saidcutting mechanism from said engine.

8. In a lawn-mover, the combination, with a frame ground wheelstherefor, an engine mounted on said frame, steering handles secured tosaid frame, and controlling mechanism for said engine supported by saidsteering handles, of a shaft mounted in said frame, a suppm'ting framepivotally mounted on said shaft, cutter mechanism carried by saidsupporting frame in the rear of its point of connection to said shaft, aroller secured to said supporting frame at a point near said cuttingmechanism, and means for driving said cutting mechanism from saidengine.

S). In a lawn mower, the combinatiomwith a frame, ground wheelstherefor, an engine mounted on said frame, steering handles secured tosaid frame, and controlling mechanism for said engine Supported by saidsteering handles, of a shaft journaled in said frame, a supporting framepivotally mounted on said shaft, a cutter bar carried by said supportingframe in the rear of said shaft, a cutter shaft journaled in saidsupporting frame, revolving cutter blades carried by said cutter shaft,a ground roller carried by said supporting frame at a point adjacent tosaid cutter bar, a sprocket wheel carried by said cutter shaft, a secondsprocket wheel mounted on the first-mentioned shaft, a sprocket chainconnecting said sprocket wheels, and means for driving said first-lmentioned shaft .from said engine.

10. In a lawn-mower, the combination, with a main frame, ground wheelssupporting the rear portion of said main frame, caster-wheels supportingthe front portion ot' said main frame, steering handles extendingrearwardly from said main frame, an explosive engine mountccbon saidmain frame, a train of gearing connecting said engine with said groundWheels, controlling-levers roller carried by said supporting frame, and'10 supported by said steering handles, and means for actuating saidcutting mechanism means for operatively connecting said confrom saidshaft.1

trolling levers with said engine, of a shaft In testimony whereof, I aXmysignature 5 mounted in the forward portion of said main in presence oftwo Witnesses. l

frame, means for connecting said shaft to GEORGE E. TOWNSEND.

said engine, a supporting frame pvotally Witnesses:

mounted on said shaft, cutting mechanism A. Cn LINK,

mounted on said supporting frame, a ground EDWARD L. REED.

